Wordless Wednesday: It’s a BIG Megaphone

Photo by Gene’O “What You Say,” cast iron and steel sculpture by Adam Bodine, 2012.

IDW Makes Me Long for Baldur’s Gate

Image taken from http://www.jimzub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DDLBG01.jpg

Good day, everyone! My post for this week builds off my previous one about IDW. This time around, I want to give a general review and recommendation for one of IDW’s current titles I’m loosely following–the enormously titled Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur’s Gate – Tyranny of Dragons by Jim Zub and Max Dunbar.

This title (along with the fact that I just recently finished Dragon Age Inquisition, which I may address in another post) really brings my nostalgia for Baldur’s Gate to the forefront of my mind. Though I never completed it or its sequel (Shadows of Amn, which I still consider one of my all-time favorite role-playing games, along with Planescape: Torment–on a side note, Will still has one of my old copies of the game, which seems to be working out for him these days), I still have fond memories of adventuring and questing across the Forgotten Realms with a unique and nuanced team of characters, not the least of whom was the (probably) brain-damaged ranger named Minsc.

Image taken from http://www.behindgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/271-baldurs-gate-007-yccwu-1.jpg

Legends of Baldur’s Gate begins about a century or so after the events of the Baldur’s Gate games, and likely several decades after the deaths of many of the games’ main characters, Minsc included. The story begins with an Elven wild mage (D&D, y’all!) named Delina on a personal quest to the city of Baldur’s Gate on the run from some powerful enemies. During her flight, she enters a pavilion filled with the statues of great heroes from the city’s history. Included among them is a statue of Minsc, called the Legendary Ranger at this point.

While using her wild magic to defend herself, Delina accidentally animates the statue of Minsc, complete with his miniature giant space hamster companion, Boo. There’s a bit of existential horror boiling beneath the surface here that never gets its due in the story. Given that this Minsc seems to have all the memories that the real Minsc would have, does this mean that Minsc was stuck as a statue for nearly a century? If not, does this mean that Delina somehow creates a perfect replica of Minsc using the statue as a template? Is the answer somewhere between these questions? As of the end of the second issue of the series, this bit of the story has not yet been told.

Image taken from http://41.media.tumblr.com/67c1b43e6655022ae22ccd7c0126a4d0/tumblr_ncdhp9UCZY1tyj78go1_1280.jpg

Though it’s far from the best fantasy comic out right now, this one is worth a look , if for no other reason than to sate your Baldur’s Gate nostalgia. Also, I do think it has a lot of potential on its own, so try it out if you’re interested in anything I talked about today. The fifth issue of the series will likely be out by the time you read this, so you’ll have quite the stack of material to work through if you choose to follow it.

As has become the norm, this series is my reading recommendation for this week. Check it out on comiXology or go out and support your local comic shops. I’ll see you all next time.

Minsc and Boo stand ready! Swords for everyone!